Wired rating

Wired

Tired

The clumsy external 3D transmitter ruins the slick styling of
this set and given the price, it should be built in.

Price

£2,990 (plus £139 for 3D transmitter and glasses)

Sony has bet the bank on 3D, but there are still plenty of
non-believers that need convincing. And to sway the 3D skeptics, two new 3D-ready sets have been added to the
stylish NX range, including this stunning flagship model. Thinner,
faster and now 3D ready, it even has an updated version of the
minimalist soundbar stand to go with it. Oddly, the 3D transmitter
and glasses are an optional extra this time, so is Sony in fact
hedging its 3D gamble?

In terms of style, this is a return to form for Sony. The
brand's other sets look a little clumsy alongside Samsung's knife-edge designs, but at about 3cm, this 55-inch
panel has slimmed right down. The bezel around the picture is a
little narrower too. It ships with a reasonably attractive glass
table stand, but we think anyone choosing from this end of the NX
line, which is Sony's design-led "network" range, will go for the
optional aluminium table stand, which now has a powered 2.1 speaker
system inside.

Any of the Monolithic Design TVs, like this one, simply slot
into the long aluminium plinth and recline at an angle of six
degrees. It's the perfect viewing angle according to Sony, so long
as your TV table is only about a foot high. What's more, the 2.1
speaker system inside provides a much-needed boost for the feeble
internal S-Master speakers. The sound from this set is reasonably
clear, but it lacks any bass weight or volume and as you might
suspect, it just doesn't live up to the size of the screen.

The NX813 slots in below Sony's flagship HX903, but it's
currently the top model in the NX line and it comes with luxuries
such as built-in Wi-Fi for wireless access to an expansive list of
online content, plus key picture enhancing such as the edge-mounted
dynamic LED backlight and powerful 200Hz motion processing.

3D and 2D performance
The headline feature is 3D, although it's not built in this time,
but available as an upgrade bundle containing the IR transmitter
and two pairs of 3D glasses.
Yes it does ruin the minimal styling, but you can always take it
off when you're not watching in 3D, which is going to be most of
the time.

Sony's Full HD 3D system uses smart-looking active shutter
glasses that reduce background flicker to deliver a very convincing
3D effect. Multiple IR emitters within the plastic device keep the
glasses locked on, so they tend not to loose sync, but they're not
particularly comfortable, hugging the head a little too tightly for
us and pinching the bridge of the nose too. Oh well, no pain, no
gain it seems, as this is one of the most accomplished 3D TVs thus
far.

Watching Ice Age 3D on Blu-ray is an effective way to show off this set's 3D skills.
The bright LED backlighting gives the snowy landscape a Persil
whiteness that plasma and regular LCDs can't match. And given that
switching to 3D mode can loose up to 80 percent of your brightness,
it helps to have more to begin with. The result here is a very deep
3D effect with minimal loss of light, vivid colours and very little
crosstalk.

Ice Age 3D, like most of the big budget animations,
enjoys a flawless transfer to Blu-ray and it lends itself readily
to 3D. The action is smooth and polished and the picture appears to
lean way back behind the screen with objects in the foreground
looking real and solid enough to reach out and touch. It's 3D at
home at its best, but it's still not perfect.

As usual, there's a drop in brightness when switching to 3D mode
that you'll need to draw the curtains and dim the lights to
compensate for. There's also a perceived drop in resolution too.
You're still seeing 1080p through each lens, but because it's
flashed sequentially, it doesn't have the same sharpness as 1080p
in 2D. That said, it's detailed and crisp enough to complete the
illusion

The sheer scale of this screen is an advantage too because the
old adage, the bigger the better seems to apply to 3D viewing. At
55-inches, its possible to see a tangible 3D image looming into the
room from almost any vantage point whereas a smaller set means
shuffling closer to the screen to get decent 3D results.

Comments

After reading the Review I still love Sony Televisions, and with my 722k receiver I just upgraded to a 55 inch Sony would look great with the most HD channels in the industry. Even being an employee at DISH I still make sure I am getting the best picture for my money.

Jason

Jan 5th 2011

The expense does not seem to fully meet the expectation. You have mentioned that the viewing angle is prefect but from what I've seen i'm quite skeptical on your standard of the word perfect. The tv's angle over 90 degree causes blurriness on the glasses and it's really uncomfortable. 3d should not be at a minimal style for that price and I do not believe decent 3d result is good enough. Family night is very important for me. My family always goes out to eat and comeback home and watch a movie when we get together. I'd rather buy that LG LM960V for the cheaper price, and it comes with like 7 pairs of glasses. If I were to purchase the Sony KDL-55NX81, I would have to pay for an additional 3 active glasses and transmitter. I would rather take the family out on vacation